


That boy is gonna be trouble

by fenellaevangela



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 13:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11670078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/pseuds/fenellaevangela
Summary: Joaquin DeSantos likes to make a little pocket money by beating north side kids in illicit street races after dark. When the local cops crash his latest race he gets to know his opponent a little better.





	That boy is gonna be trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maeve_of_Winter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_of_Winter/gifts).



When the sirens started Joaquin spent a split second deciding what his best move was. Driving away would be faster, no doubt, but the cops would be looking for cars fleeing the scene and, if it came down to it, Joaquin didn’t want to be found in this one. It would be easier to hide on foot, anyway. It would be even easier if he wasn’t the only one running.

“Ditch the cars!” he hissed, pocketing his keys without even closing his car door. He saw the north side twink he’d been about to race, some clean-cut kid who looked like he’d never broken the speed limit in his life, hesitate for a second before doing the same. He didn’t bother to check what anyone else was doing before heading off the road and getting scarce, quick. 

In the mess of everyone scattering and the sirens blaring it didn’t take long before Joaquin was alone – or nearly. He didn’t know how it had happened, but by the time he’d made it a few blocks away the only other person in sight was the kid he’d been about to race. Kevin, he suddenly remembered, as the two of them huddled behind a hedge. He and Kevin were shoulder to shoulder and the only thing Joaquin could hear over the pounding of his own heart was the sound of the other boy’s quickened breathing. They were so close Joaquin imagined he could feel Kevin’s body heat, although he damn well knew his Serpents jacket was too thick. What he was really feeling was his own hot blood – the whole situation had Joaquin turned on. A good brush with the law did it for him every time, and even though north side kids weren’t usually his type he was seriously considering doing something about it when a sound from the other side of the hedge stopped him short. 

Peering through the hedge, Joaquin watched as a cop cruiser rolled to a stop and parked itself at the end of the street. Joaquin didn’t think they’d been spotted, but when the cop got out of his car with his flashlight on, things didn’t look good. Maybe today’s brush with the law wasn’t quite over.

Their best bet was to keep still and hope the cop didn’t look around too hard, which Joaquin was comfortably sure he wouldn’t, then hang back a while until they were free and clear. Joaquin had hidden from cops in worse places and with worse company; hell, maybe he could even shuffle a little closer while they were waiting and cop a fell, test the waters while the adrenaline was still pumping. Apparently Kevin had other ideas, though, because while Joaquin watched in disbelief, Kevin steeled himself and just – stepped out into the open, where the cop and any other fucking person could see him. Then, in case the cop happened to be about as observant as a stump, Kevin gave a little wave and called him over.

“Hey, Officer Abrams! Fancy meeting you here. Um, nice night, isn’t it?”

Joaquin’s eyes grew wide. Damn, he had to admit that an opening like that took more balls than he’d pegged the north side twink with having. If a Serpent tried to be that glib with one of Riverdale’s finest they’d be in the back of a police cruiser whether they’d actually done something illegal or not, and Joaquin couldn’t help but feel impressed that Kevin would take the brunt of that attention on himself. Of course, the kid looked like his record was squeaky clean; a minor bust for street racing would probably just be a fun story to tell his preppy friends, not a third strike like it would be for Joaquin. Hell, Kevin probably wouldn’t even spend more than an hour at the station before his north side parents came to whisk him away. 

Except the cop didn’t seem like he was ready to break out the handcuffs, let alone haul Kevin away. Instead he just looked . . . exasperated.

“Come on, Kevin, again?” said the cop, throwing Joaquin for another loop. This wasn’t Kevin’s first bust, then. “Why is it always _me_ who has to catch you doing these things, man?”

Kevin rubbed the back of his neck, fingers skimming his hairline in a way that distracted Joaquin for a hot second. “It was Oakley who caught me last week.”

The cop sighed. “Well, Oakley’s retiring next year, she doesn’t care. Me, on the other hand? I need to worry what my arrest record looks like the next time I’m up for a promotion. I don’t need your name on that list, Kevin. If I let you off with a warning can you _please_ just try and keep your nose clean this time?”

“Cross my heart,” Kevin said, and even though his back was to Joaquin, he would take bets that Kevin had done the gesture to go with it. It didn’t look like the effort did much to convince the cop, though.

“This is the last time, Kevin. I mean it!” said the cop, pointing his finger at the kid in emphasis.

“Okay, Walt, okay!” promised Kevin. Some of the cocky attitude had dropped out of his voice but Joaquin still had to quirk an eyebrow at the use of a first name; the twink really _did_ have a pair on him.

From the look on the cop’s face he wasn’t too pleased with that response, but it didn’t matter because once he turned around he returned to his cruiser without a second look. A minute later he was driving away and the street was silent except for the distant barks of a dog three or four blocks away.

Joaquin slipped out from behind the hedge and stepped into the circle of light under the street lamp where Kevin was standing. It had been less than half an hour since the street race had been broken up, but the difference between the adrenaline rush of the race and the chase and the quiet stillness of this empty street meant that it felt like it could’ve been hours. Joaquin knew he should probably lay low for the rest of the night and not push his luck but so far things seemed to be coming up aces - hell, if they were lucky, the commotion wouldn’t have woken up anyone on the block and the two of them really were as alone as it looked. Joaquin decided to give it a shot.

He always had been a gambling man.

Joaquin stepped into Kevin’s space, just a little too close and he could tell that Kevin had noticed – a little hitch in his breath, the way he was suddenly standing more still than was strictly normal. The kid’s eyes were locked on his cell phone but even when Joaquin shifted even closer he didn’t back away. 

“That was pretty smooth, boyscout,” Joaquin said. “You on a first name basis with all of Riverdale PD?”

Kevin’s eyes flicked up for a split second. “Maybe.”

Count Joaquin’s curiosity as piqued. He was smart enough not to push, though, so he just shrugged.

“Well, I got to admit, I like a guy who knows how to keep the cops at bay,” he said. Kevin was still on his phone. “Unless this is you calling in the big guns instead?”

Kevin glanced up from his phone – smiled, quick and bright – and to Joaquin’s surprise actually held it out so he could read the names on the screen. “Not a narc, promise, I’m just checking to see if my friends got away okay.”

Right, the blonde and the jocks. Joaquin was pretty sure there wasn’t much Kevin could do if they _hadn’t_ gotten away okay, but he could understand the impulse, especially from a north side kid who wore a sweater vest to a street race, so he just nodded and let him finish. After a few moments and a little more typing Kevin smiled again and slipped his phone into his back pocket.

“Everyone safe and accounted for,” he announced.

“So, you got any place to be?” Joaquin asked.

“Well, I mean, it’s one in the morning . . .” Kevin said. Joaquin let his own smile unfurl and felt a jolt of triumph as Kevin visibly swallowed. “But, uh, no. You?”

Joaquin nodded, nice and slow. “I’m going to Pop’s for shake. With you.”

“Oh! Yes!” said Kevin, flustered. All his bravado from earlier was gone, but Joaquin didn’t mind. He found he liked the blush creeping across the other boy’s cheeks just as much.

Sharing a milkshake wasn’t usually Joaquin’s go-to first date, but Kevin hadn’t been exaggerating about the time. There weren’t many places in a rinky-dink town like Riverdale that were open twenty-four hours, and Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe was about the only one Joaquin knew of where he could imagine a nice north side boy stepping inside - even one who liked to skirt on the wrong side of the law. 

When the two of them got there it was open all right – brightly lit and welcoming, with a handful of people already there despite the time. It made a pretty picture watching from outside, but when Joaquin went to open the door, Kevin held back.

Joaquin quirked an eyebrow at him. “Having second thoughts about that shake, boyscout?” 

Or about being seen with a guy wearing South Side Serpents colours, he thought. Joaquin was disappointed but not too surprised; he knew he should have taken his chances back behind that hedge.

“I don’t need a shake,” Kevin said, but instead of trying to split he took hold of Joaquin’s hand.

Kevin led as they slipped past the wide windows of the diner’s storefront, probably catching the eye of some of the late-night customers inside, and went around to the side of the building. It was dark back there, with no light from the windows or Pop’s glowing sign. It was also quiet, and private – a fact that Joaquin realized was intentional when Kevin dropped his hand and crowded him up against the pale siding.

So what if Kevin didn’t want to sit across from him in some corny diner? Thought Joaquin, trailing his hands up the boy’s sides while Kevin licked into his mouth. Milkshakes were overrated, anyway.

“Sorry about that,” said Kevin a few minutes later.

Joaquin snorted. “I’ve never had anyone apologize after making out with me,” he said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. “I meant for not going inside. I was going to! But then I recognized one of the people inside and – God, this is embarrassing.”

“You’re hot when you’re embarrassed,” said Joaquin.

“I’m – what?” said Kevin.

Joaquin touched Kevin’s cheek briefly. “It makes you blush.”

If anything, that made Kevin blush harder, to Joaquin’s great pleasure, but he just shook his head.

“Well, the last thing I wanted was for her to go calling my _dad_ telling him I was out on a _date_ past curfew,” he said. “She’d probably call him while we were eating and have him come over, _God_. You don’t mind, do you?”

Joaquin shrugged. He’d had worse surprises on dates than an unexpected parent crashing the party. 

“What,” he joked, “you don’t want me to meet your dad?”

Far from laughing, Kevin actually frowned. “Trust me, you do _not_ want to meet my dad.”

Joaquin scoffed. “Why’s that? Who’s your dad?”

“. . . The sheriff,” said Kevin. 

“The _sheriff_?” Joaquin said back to him, like a goddamn parrot. 

Kevin nodded, biting his lip. He looked like he was afraid that Joaquin might try to bolt then and there, and Joaquin had to admit that he was thinking about it. If he were smart, he would.

“Fuck it,” he said, grabbing the back of Kevin’s neck and pulling him in for another kiss. “You better be worth it.”


End file.
